Compositions containing 2-imidazolidinone for sizing textile yarns



United States Patent 3,445,407 COMPOSITIONS CONTAINING Z-IMIDAZOLIDI- NONE FOR SIZING TEXTILE YARNS Richard F. J. Ingleby, deceased, late of Harlow, Essex,

England, by National Provincial Bank Limited, executor, London, England, assignor to Revertex Limited, London, England, a company of Great Britain No Drawing. Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 201,746, June 12, 1962. This application Oct. 10, 1966, Ser. No. 587,370

Int. Cl. C08f 29/30 US. Cl. 26017.4 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A new composition for sizing textile yarns prior to weaving or knitting of the yarn including 1 to 25% by weight of ethylene urea as an additive to a conventional sizing.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 201,746, filed June 12, 1962 and now abandoned.

This invention relates to a composition for sizing textile yarns, and in particular to compositions for sizing textile yarns prior to the weaving or knitting thereof.

According to the present invention there is provided a textile sizing composition which contains ethylene urea in an amount of from 1 to 25%, preferably 1 to by weight, of the total solid matter present in the sizing composition before the addition of any lubricant thereto.

The ethylene urea (2-imidazolidinone) improves the properties of a textile sizing composition when added thereto, and may be added to any conventional textile sizing composition in the proportions indicated. It has been discovered that ethylene urea is valuable as an additive in sizing compositions such as alkali-soluble carboxylated copolymers of vinyl esters and particularly the sizing compositions described in British Patent No. 880,- 980 which essentially consist of an aqueous solution of a polyvinyl alcohol and of a neutralised carboxyl-containing vinyl copolymer resin. Such sizing compositions are of particular use for sizing continuous filament polyester yarns.

Further, it has been found that desirable properties of temporary sizing compositions based upon partially as well as completely hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol are substantially improved by the addition of ethylene urea (2- imidazolidinone) within the prescribed amounts.

The addition of ethylene urea to a textile sizing composition gives improved protection to the yarn during the weaving by helping to preserve the integrity of the film of size deposited upon the yarn, by enhancing the adhesion of the size to the fibres, by making the film of size more flexible, and by increasing the mutual compatibility of the various components of the size. This improvement in adhesion, flexibility and compatibility is obtained without a large increase in the softness of the size or in the tendency of dried films of the sizing composition on the yarn to adhere to each other under pressure. This makes for high weaving efiiciency as shown by the low figures obtained for ends broken during weaving, and faults associated with the sized warp sticking to itself on the beam are also minimized.

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The invention will now be illustrated by the following examples, in which all parts are by weight:

EXAMPLE I The sizing composition is made from:

Parts Reversize 74 V20 Water 240 3 N sodium hydroxide solution 10 Ethylene urea 1.8

Proprietary lubricant emulsion known under the name Emulsion TS 20 Reversize is a registered trademark and Reversize 74 V20 is a temporary warp sizing composition made by the aqueous polymerization of 8 parts of crotonic acid with 72 parts of vinyl acetate in the presence of 20 parts of a polyvinyl alcohol which was the product of the partial alcoholysis of polyvinyl acetate such that there was an average of 44 hydroxyl groups for every 100 carbon atoms in the polyvinyl chain and the viscosity of a 4% aqueous solution at 25 C. of the polyvinyl alcohol was 10 c.p.s. This composition is prepared according to the teaching of British Patent No. 880,980.

Emulsion TS is a proprietary composition consisting of an aqueous emulsion of 20 parts mineral oil supplied by the Allied Colloids Manufacturing Company, Ltd. of Richmond, Surrey, England.

To the stirred Reversize 74 V20 the other ingredients are added slowly in turn in the order shown. The addition of the sodium hydroxide produces a solution. After the ethylene urea and lubricant emulsion have been added, the sizing composition is ready for use and has a pH of between 7.8 and 8.5, a viscosity of about 20 centistokes at 20 C., and a solids content of about 10%.

A tape made up from polyethylene terephthalate continuous filament warp yarns (100 denier, 22 turns per inch) is sized in a slasher sizer in the usual fashion to give a pick-up of about 3.5% dry size of the yarn. It may then be woven without difficulty to a leno weave construction.

EXAMPLE II A sizing composition suitable for use on cellulose triacetate continuous filament yarns is made from:

Alcotex is a registered trademark and Alcotex 88/20 is a partially hydrolysed grade of polyvinyl alcohol in which about 88% of the acetate groups originally present in the polyvinyl acetate from which the polyvinyl alcohol has been derived have been replaced by hydroxyl groups, and of which a 4% aqueous solution has a viscosity of about 20 centistokes at 20 C.

As well known within the industry, sucrose may be added to polyvinyl alcohol sizes to act as an extender for the polyvinyl alcohol thereby reducing the material costs as illustrated above.

The sizing yarn may be lubricated at the headstock of the sizing machine in the usual way.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A temporary textile sizing composition, consisting essentially of an aqueous solution of about 75 to 99% by weight of a temporary textile size selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl alcohol, alkali-soluble carboxylated vinyl ester copolymers and mixtures thereof, and about 1 to 25% by weight of Z-imidazolidinone.

2. The composition of claim 1, wherein the Z-imidazolidinone is present in an amount of from 1 to 15% by weight.

3. The composition of claim 1, wherein the polyvinyl alcohol is a partially hydrolysed grade oti alcohol.

4. The composition of claim 1, and further including a 15 yarn-weaving lubricant.

5. The composition of claim 1, wherein the size is an alkali-soluble carboxylated vinyl acetate copolymer.

6. The composition of claim 1, wherein the size is a partially hydrolysed polyvinyl alcohol.

7. The composition of claim 1 consisting essentially of .an aqueous solution of 75% by weight of a mixture of 4 parts by weight of partially hydrolysed polyvinyl alcohol, 2 parts by weight of sucrose as an extender for said polyvinyl alcohol, and 25% by weight of Z-imidazolidinone.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS WILLIAM H. SHORT, Primary Examiner.

E. NIELSEN, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

